RSPCA alert after Burnley kitten poisoned

The RSPCA has put cat owners in Burnley on high alert after a kitten was poisoned with antifreeze.

Distraught owner Susan Land, of Holcolme Drive, discovered her beautiful clever Pusscat had fallen victim to the callous attack when she collapsed.

It is very worrying to think that somebody would do this deliberately. They know who they are.

Susan Land

Mrs Land is convinced the six-month old kitten took a sip of antifreeze on Easter Sunday afternoon when she slipped out of the garden for a few minutes. She became weaker over the next couple of days and died in agony on Thursday afternoon.

“ I’d had threats that if she went in somebody’s garden she would be killed,” said Mrs Land. “It is very worrying to think that somebody would do this deliberately. They know who they are.

“Pusscat was a little house cat. She had hardly ever been out, and only went in the garden. We’d had her sterilised, microchipped and inoculated”.

Mrs Land’s partner, David, took the tortoiseshell kitten to the vet on Wednesday morning after she and her daughter Emma Jane (17) became increasing worried. “She had such a high temperature that the vet said very few animals would have survived,” she said. “The antifreeze poisoning was confirmed when her kidneys began to pack up.

“She was so ill I wasn’t allowed to see her in case she became even more distressed.

“It has been absolutely horrible. I am just thankful that it was not child who drank the antifreeze, or even a dog. Pusscat and our dog Henry had become really good friends. He is lost without her.”

RSPCA officer Natalie Taylor said: “We want to warn cat owners living near Holcombe Drive to be on their guard, If anyone has any information about this attack they need call us on 0300 1234 999, quoting incident number 1098/10/04/15. The line is open every hour of the day, seven days a week.

“If someone is intentionally poisoning animals it an offence, and the perpetrators could be prosecuted.”